Argumento
This is an excellent collection of legendary comics artist Steve Ditko’s early work for Charlton Comics in the 1960s. Captain Atom was Ditko’s first superhero creation. The first batch of stories were published in 1960 and 1961, SPACE ADVENTURES numbers 33 through 40 and 42. These stories are short and fast paced, without a lot of character and story development, due to page limitations. Ditko returned to Charlton in 1965 and resurrected the character in his own comic. This collection includes CAPTAIN ATOM numbers 78 through 82, before Ditko revamped the character (which are included in Action Heroes Volume 2). The later stories are longer and have more substance; issue 82 introduces the superheroine Nightshade. While these comics were not quite in the same class as what Marvel and DC were publishing at the time, they are enjoyable and may jog the memories of baby boomers.
Captain Atom, and other Charlton superheroes, were bought by DC in the 1980’s which led to a revamping and a short-lived revival of the characters. They were originally proposed to be used in Alan Moore’s THE WATCHMEN comic series in 1986. However, when DC learned that Moore’s storyline called for killing off some of the heroes, they refused to give him permission to use them, requiring him to create his own heroes based on the Charlton characters. Obviously, Captain Atom was the inspiration for Dr. Manhattan and Nightshade the inspiration for Silk Spectre. In hindsight, I think DC’s refusal was shortsighted. These heroes have never become more than supporting characters in the DC universe; if they had been used in THE WATCHMEN comics and movie, it would have ushered Captain Atom and the others onto comics’ main stage.